France Circles Back to Status Quo

Though the names are different, the French election is playing out much like the last one when a candidate who might have brought change was brought down by scandal, opening the way for the same-ol’ policies, writes Gilbert Doctorow.

By Gilbert Doctorow

The vast majority of commentary in U.S. and West European media about the first round of voting in the French presidential election on April 23 concurred that the vote represented an unprecedented repudiation of the political establishment. After all, neither of the two top vote-getters, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, belonged to the major center-right or center-left parties, the Republicans and the Socialists respectively. The ugly character assassination pervading the campaign was also noted.

French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron

And yet, in many ways, the French first-round outcome was precisely “precedented” within French experience if we look back just five years to the election that brought Francois Hollande to power and, still more, within the U.S. experience if we look back over the several “bait and switch” presidential elections of the past quarter century.

In 2012, the French presidential candidate best prepared by experience and knowledge to lead France out of its economic and social woes was Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the time Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. He was widely expected to receive the nomination of the Socialist Party, but was brought down by a sex scandal that many believed at the time was an entrapment arranged by his enemies, including those in the United States where Strauss-Kahn’s sexual profligacy led to his indictment for sexual assault although the charges were later dropped.

Because of Strauss-Kahn’s legal troubles, the majority of French who had their fill of President Nicolas Sarkozy were left with the Socialists’ poor second choice, Francois Hollande, who proved over the last five years that he was witless and utterly lacking in substance. During his tenure, France has limped along and played a supporting role to the Continent’s hegemon, Germany.

In 2016, the presidential candidate best prepared by experience and knowledge to lead France was Francois Fillon. He offered both domestic and foreign policies that would mark a significant departure from the wishy-washy and ineffectual programs of Hollande and of Sarkozy before him. Perhaps most unorthodox of these policies within the Center-Right, from which he came, was his advocacy of good, constructive relations with Russia.

But Fillon was brought down by a concerted campaign of character assassination. Yes, he was likely guilty of abusing the hiring privileges of his office to assign state compensation to his wife and sons. But that has been a very widespread abuse in the French political establishment and represents institutionalized corruption that did not begin with and will not end with Fillon.

Democratic politics is not for Boy Scouts. It has always and will always have rough edges – and candidates will not be perfect men and women. The question, which should count above all others, is whether the candidate has the programs that will change people’s lives for the better and the force of will and political skills to realize them.

The Macron Muddle

Meanwhile, the administrative resources of the French government and the media have been used to promote the candidacy of a total nonentity, Emanuel Macron, whose main virtue is that he is NOT the National Front’s Marine Le Pen, the great nightmare candidate for the French establishment and beyond its borders for the European Union establishment, as well as for supporters of globalism around the world.

Macron’s second featured attribute is his youth. At 39, he will be the Fifth Republic’s youngest ever President. In this sense his candidacy parallels electoral politics in the United States, where being a black or being a woman has been used to draw votes to candidates who otherwise do not stand up to scrutiny.

Macron’s taking the lead position in the first round has been greeted with jubilation by world stock markets. The Nasdaq finally broke through the 6,000 level. European bank shares soared in reaction to the prospect of France being run by a former investment banker.

However, if he wins the second round, Macron will come to office without an organization to govern, with only the slightest chance of achieving a parliamentary majority in the upcoming National Assembly elections in June. He will be obliged to cobble together a ruling coalition, meaning there will be little coherence in his government and its policies. Coalitions are formed to share the spoils of office, not to get things done.

We may expect France to muddle along and to continue to be subservient to Berlin, the capital of European powerhouse Germany, and Brussels, the home of the European Union’s bureaucracy. This will be a setback for those who had hoped France would break the stultifying consensus over austerity, over migrants, over sanctions on Russia – issues that are destroying the European Union from within. But the biggest loser may well be the French nation.

Gilbert Doctorow is a Brussels-based political analyst. His latest book Does Russia Have a Future? was published in August 2015

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68 comments for “France Circles Back to Status Quo”

Anonymous

May 1, 2017 at 10:26

We have heard how Emmanuel Macron has just a few days before the French Election said for the first time, that France would have to leave the European Union if France and the European Union do Not Reform, and this is what Marine Le Pen has been saying for years.

Macron Knows that this is True, but he will Not keep his Election promises, because he is Lying Again as Usual and he putting on an Act Again as Usual, because he and the Establishment he works for wants to try to deceive the French Voters for the Election, and he will Not honor his Election promises after the Election.

There are People in France and elsewhere who think that France will have a Female President, either by the Deceitful way of having Macron’s wife be the Secret Real President, or by the Honest and Honorable way of having Marine Le Pen become the President of France, and there are Many French Voters who Know that Macron’s wife Control Macron, and that she should Not Usurp the Presidency, because her name is Not on the Ballot, and these French Voters Know that the Honest and Honorable way for France to have its First Female President would be to Elected Marine Le Pen for President of France.

Honesty with the Voters, and the Ability to Freely Serve the Interests of the French People rather than a Puppet Master, are the issues with regards to these matters, because the Establishment or Foreigners like to have the Dirt on People to make them their Puppets in this Age of the Total Surveillance State.

There are Many French Voters who think that Marine Le Pen is Honest, and that she is a Respectable Representative of the French People, and the French President and those close to the French President defines France for Many People.

We have seen how the Bribed and Corrupt Lying Establishment Puppet Mainstream Media in France, who Lies on Many things, because they are the Paid Propaganda Agents that the Establishment has Installed to Support Unpatriotic Establish Puppets, has been Very Biased even Slanderous against the Patriotic Candidate who is Marine Le Pen.

Those who are Experienced will Know that Most of the French Mainstream Media work for the Establishment, and that is Why they Lie so much and are Very Biased against Candidates who want to Serve the French People.

The Establishment Puppet French Mainstream Media are Trained on how to Deceive People, and they will try to deceive French Voters.

They will by call some of the Policies of Marine Le Pen as far right, but a policy is a policy, and Discerning Voters will consider a policy on its merits if it has merits, rather than on the label that is placed on it by Biased Deceitful Self Interested Opponents, who would have Wrong Motives for some of what they say.

They will Lie and say that Marine Le Pen is a fascist, but she is no more of a fascist than is an honest policeman who is protecting the French Community from criminals.

It is the Establishment Real Fascist Sarkozy was involved in the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, which created a Refugee Crisis and gave Control of Libya to Al Qaeda Fascists who have Imposed Sharia Law on Libya, and if they had a chance they would Impose Sharia Law on France and on Europe.

The Unpatriotic Establishment Fascist Sarkozy endorsed the Unpatriotic and Establishment Fascist Macron who Lied on Syria, and the Unpatriotic Fascist Establishment Hollande assisted with a Coup in Africa, and the Unpatriotic Establishment Fascist Hollande endorsed the Unpatriotic Fascist and Establishment Macron.

Marine Le Pen is French and she wants France to remain French, and the French Civilization and Culture has Contributed Much to the World.

The Major French Political Parties are 2 sides of the same Corrupt and Incompetent Establishment coin, who are Responsible for France’s High Unemployment rate with French Youth Unemployment that is over 20 % , and the Youth are the future of France.

France’s standing and reputation in Europe, its Overseas Territories, and the World, are affected by matters regarding the President, and that is an Important Issue for the Election.

Anonymous

April 30, 2017 at 10:27

We have seen how the Bribed and Corrupt Establishment Puppet Mainstream Media in France has been Biased against the Patriotic Candidate who is Marine Le Pen, and the Establishment Puppet French Mainstream Media will try to deceive French Voters by calling some of the Policies of Marine Le Pen as far right, but a policy is a policy, and Discerning Voters will consider a policy on its merits if it has merits, rather than on the label that is placed on it by Biased Deceitful Self Interested Opponents, who would have Wrong Motives for some of what they say.

This is why People in France are using Talk Back Radio, and Social Media, and they are Talking to Fellow Citizens on Election Issues for this Election, including the following important matters.

France’s standing and reputation in Europe, and the French Overseas Territories, and the World, are affected by matters regarding the Person of the President.

There are some French People who may Not be aware of these things, but Most People of other Countries are aware of these things, and there are Many French People who want a President who has a fine reputation.

The story we have heard regarding Emmanuel Macron is that at the age of 15, he met the woman who was already married to another man for 32 years, and that woman is now Macron’s wife and she is 24 years older than him, and Macron was under the age of consent which is 18 years of age for a situation as a teacher and a student, and Macron’s wife was married to another man that she divorced 14 years after she first met the 15 year old Emmanuel Macron, and at the time, Macron’s wife was Macron’s Teacher working at a Private School with a daughter of hers of the same age as Macron, and who was in the same class as Macron.

While Most of those things are Verified Facts; there is only one thing that we do Not know for sure, and that is if there actually was a physical relationship between Macron and the woman who he says is his wife, because we were Not there, and it has been alleged that Macron could be Secretly Homosexual, and that because of those allegations there are People who think that his marriage is not a real marriage, but is a cover for that, and for Macron’s wife to have an affair with the young Macron for over a decade before divorcing her husband of 32 years, sounds odd or suspicious, and there are People who think that if it were true, then perhaps there are People who think that it sounds cheap and perverted, regardless of the shine that others may try to put on it, and French Voters want Honest Politicians who will be faithful to the French People, and Macron’s wife was Unfaithful to her first husband if that the entire story is true, and Macron assisted her in that Dishonorable affair, and the question could be asked of Macron’s wife if there were others before, during, or after Macron.

Those who understand things, Know that we Should Not believe everything we hear or read, and Macron is from a Rich Family, and he has a University Education to earn a High Salary from that Education, and so it would appear that he would have Easily found a woman of his own age, unless he is not interested in women, and Perhaps Macron or someone close to him have been Secretly Filmed in some Perverted Act, and could be being Blackmailed by Germany or the French Establishment, and it Should be kept in mind that Honesty with the Voters, and the Ability to Freely Serve the Interests of the French People rather than a Puppet Master, are the issues with regards to these matters, because the Establishment or Foreigners like to have the Dirt on People to make them their Puppets in this Age of the Total Surveillance State, and there are Many French Voters who think that Marine Le Pen is Honest, and that she is a Respectable Representative of the French People.

There is something also of Great Concern to Europeans, and that is the European Union Army.

There are Many Europeans who have seen that there are Several Problems with the European Union.

This is why Many Europeans Know that the European Union Needs some Essential reforms or the European Union will Collapse, and the British understand this, and that is Why the British Voted for Brexit.

Macron is an Establishment Puppet, and if he speaks of making Necessary reforms, then we can be Certain that he is Lying and putting on an Act, and the British Voters do Not trust anyone other than Marine Le Pen to be their Ally in France for Brexit Lite for Britain to be a second tier Member of the European Union, who would have more independence, along with shared Obligations under Brexit lite for Britain, because they have seen the European Union become in many regards like the former Soviet Union.

The European Union was meant to keep Germany from Dominating Europe, and the European Union has Failed in that regard.

NATO was meant to keep Europe from being invaded, but NATO has conducted Illegal and Immoral Wars which has resulted in Europe being invaded by Refugees, and Marine Le Pen does Not want NATO to conduct Illegal and Immoral Wars that result in Europe being invaded by Refugees.

Germany wants to Conquer Europe again, and they want to use the Refugees as part of their Fourth Reich Army, and to Also use the European Union Army to Conquer Europe.

We should Not be surprised if it was Germany who Subtly and Cunningly Deceived or Bribed American Politicians to cause the Refugee crisis that Germany would use for their Fourth Reich Army.

People think that if the Establishment Emmanuel Macron becomes President then he would be a Puppet of Germany, and the Establishment Macron would be another Establishment Francois Hollande Despite any Lies to the contrary, and the Establishment’s Francois Hollande did Not seek reelection because his Policies have Only a 5 % approval rating, and Hollande endorsed Macron.

Britain Voted to leave the European Union, and they Know that Marine Le Pen is a mild reformer who is Best placed to make the few Essential reforms in the European Union so that Britain can rejoin the European Union, because Marine Le Pen wants Britain to be in the European Union.

There are People wondering if Macron has been Secretly Filmed in some Perverted act when he was a young teenager, or since then, and that perhaps he is now Germany’s Puppet, but Macron is Definitely a Puppet of the French Establishment.

The French People believe in Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and for the sake of Liberty there are French Voters who do Not want France to become a Puppet in a European Union that resembles the former Soviet Union.

There are Many French Voters who think that for sake of Equality, then it is time that France had its First Female President, and they do Not want another failed Establishment Puppet like Hollande or Sarkozy, or the Establishment’s Macron, but they want Marine Le Pen to be the President of France.

For the sake of Fraternity, then the French People want Friendship and Support for All French People to prevent Germany from Conquering Europe again, and this is Why Marine Le Pen will be the Friend of All European Countries, and she will Not be Germany’s enemy or Germany’s Puppet by giving over France’s Military to Germany to Control the French Military, by means of a Deceptive Euphemistically called European Union Army, and the Lying and Untrustworthy Macron would Dishonor France.

We have seen how France under Hollande has Lied with regards to Syria, and this has created Many Syrian Refugees, and the Establishment Macron would continue to Lie on Syria if he became President, because Germany wants to use Refugees as their Fourth Reich Army to Conquer Europe after Germany acquires Control of France’s Military.

There are a few Europeans who think that Germany does not want to Conquer Europe again, but that is what People said of Germany after WW 1, and we Know that Germany Deceived Europe.

The Democratically Elected Legitimate Syrian Government has asked the Syrian Refugees to return home, and they have asked the European Union to help those Refugees to return home to Rebuild Syria.

Many French Voters Know that France Cannot wait 5 years to have a Honest, Patriotic, and Competent President, because if Macron Usurps the Presidency with the help of the Bribed and Corrupt Unpatriotic Puppet French Mainstream Media, then it will be too Difficult for France to recover, and France will have a Hard Frexit, Regardless of who becomes President in the Election after this one in 2022, because the European Union will have Collapsed, and it would have been Conquered by Germany, because the Necessary reforms for France and the European Union would Not be implemented by a Puppet, Incompetent, and Unpatriotic Macron, and this is Why there are Many French Voters, who Understand Why they Will be Voting for Marine Le Pen for President of France.

This is why there are Many British Voters who think if the Lying and Untrustworthy Establishment Macron becomes France’s President, then they will Vote for the British Conservative Party at their Election.

hans meyer

April 29, 2017 at 15:32

Hello, all,
As a french person, I am disappointed by the French people. We said that the French have their heart on the left, but their wallet on the right. These elections are right on target. Instead of choosing somebody on the left with an anti-neoliberal agenda, they chose between two forms of fascim. Lepen represents the old, let”s say artisanal, form; while Marron represents the hyper-capitalist form (I am sure that the people of Lybia and Syria and Haiti would agree with me. Anyway the second kind of fascists, like to place dictators (borderline psychopaths, I would rather say, all over French speaking Africa than negotiate with proper indigenous governments – see Ivory Coast for example. Remember also, the game played between the U.S., Canada on one side and France on the other side for the open-air death camp that was Rwanda. The Nazis would have been horrified by the efficiency of such a carnage!) So, the idea of a lesser evil is kind of a thing relative to the primary target of either group. Lepen at best would represent a personal problem for us french to deal with; unless, like Trump, she jumps in the neoliberals trainwreck contrary to her promises and things would look like in the U.S. now. With Marron, we are sure that the french neoliberals agenda, that he largely put in place himself, will contribute to the present social malaise in France and the war crimes that are Lybia and Syria and the rest.
Sunday will be a sad day indeed, a shamefully day.

James Whitney

April 30, 2017 at 06:58

Hello Hans Meyer,

Things are not finished May 7. I invite you (and all who read French) to read

The fight for decency continues, The French people like me are learning: let’s support the program of La France Insoumise.

Anonymous

April 27, 2017 at 16:03

There are People who are wondering if the Election of who becomes the President of France might affect the British Election.

This is because the British Parliamentary Election will occur a few weeks after the French Presidential Election.

There are Voters in Britain who think that there should not have an early Election for Britain.

This is because the Government had a Majority and they had another 4 years before having to hold an Election in 2021.

The British Labour Party will Respect the wishes of the Voters for Brexit, and that if they become the Government, or are in a Governing Coalition, then they will not seek another Referendum on Brexit, but they would seek Brexit lite, and there are People who think that their endeavor in that regards would be enhanced for Brexit lite if they had an Ally in France, because Marine Le Pen was President.

These People think that if the Establishment Emmanuel Macron becomes President then he would be a Puppet of Germany, and then Britain would have to leave the European Union, because it would be less likely that Britain can negoiate Brexit lite without the help of an Ally in France, and where Britain could be more Independent, while being an second tier Member of the European Union, who has the possibility to rejoin the European Union as a first tier Member one day, by means of a future Referendum, and the Establishment Macron would be another Establishment Francois Hollande Despite Lies to the contrary, and the Establishment Francois Hollande who did Not seek reelection because his Policies have Only a 5 % approval rating, and yet Hollande endorsed Macron.

This is because British Voters Know that the French People would Not vote to leave the European Union, even if there was a referendum on that, but they Know that it was because of a lack of necessary reforms in the European Union that Britain Voted to leave the European Union, and they Know that Marine Le Pen is a mild reformer who is Best placed to reform the European Union so that Britain can rejoin the European Union.

There are People who think that there could be an informal coalition of several British Political Parties for this Election.

They would try to maximize the number of combined Parliamentary Seats that they receive at the Election.

These Political Parties would be the British Labour Party, the Scottish Nationalist Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party.

They may agree to not Contest Parliamentary Constituencies against those in that informal coalition Group who have the best chance of wining that Seat, and that the Voters for those other Political Parties should Vote for that Political Party from that informal coalition Group who has been allocated that Parliamentary Seat, because these would either want Brexit lite or they want another Referendum to stay in the European Union, but the British Labour Party would Not offer another Referendum, but Only Brexit lite, and if they are Reelected 2027, then they might consider another Referendum to rejoin the European Union.

The concern for the British People is the European Union Army, where Germany will be in Control of France’s Military, and while Macron will Lie and put on an Act that he will Not be Germany’s Puppet, but he is Lying, and it is a Concern for All Europeans that Macron had relations with his wife when he was a young teenager and she was his Teacher who is 26 years older than him, and that is Improper for a Teacher and her Student under those circumstances, and there are People wondering if Macron has been Secretly Filmed in some Criminal or Perverted act when he was a young teenager, or since then, and perhaps he is now Germany’s Puppet, and the French believe in Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and for the sake of Equality, there are Many French Voters who think that it is time that France had its First Female President, and they do Not want another failed Establishment Puppet like Hollande and Sakozy or the Establishment’s Macron, but they want Marine Le Pen to be the President of France.

Marine Le Pen will be the friend of All European Countries, but she will Not be Germany’s enemy or Germany’s Puppet by giving over France’s Military to Germany to control and Macron will Dishonor France.

We have seen how France has Lied on Syria, which has caused Many Syrian Refugees, and the Establishment Macron would Lie on Syria if he became President, because Germany wants to use Refugees as their Fourth Reich Army to Conquer Europe after Germany acquires France’s Military.

There are some Europeans who think that Germany does not want to Conquer Europe again, but that is what they said of Germany after WW 1.

This is why there are Many British Voters who think if the Lying and Untrustworthy Establishment Macron becomes France’s President, then they will Vote for the British Conservative Party at their Election.

susan_sunflower

April 27, 2017 at 13:00

Last night RT’s Crossfire had Pepe Escobar and other talking about France’s retreat to the status quo (which hasn’t been working for most of the people under Hollande and will not work for them under Macrcon)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htc0wVOALzI

backwardsevolution

April 27, 2017 at 19:28

The British guy in that video said, “France is about to be governed by a man who said, ‘There is no such thing as French culture.'”

Le Pen sees a very strong and distinct culture, yet Macron sees nothing. A vote for Macron is a vote to kiss your culture good-bye.

susan_sunflower

April 28, 2017 at 03:50

and it’s an even stranger thing to have said, outloud and in public, given issues wrt the “sudden” generations of failures of assimilation after a long and proud tradition of successfully (more or less) doing just that — expecting all newcomers to become “French” … unlike the American model (which is actually not remotely the same thing for a dozen or more reasons)

susan_sunflower

April 28, 2017 at 11:12

I don’t know the context of the remark or what (if any) followup it provoked, but I am reminded of the issues of “assimilation” in the 1980’s first-wave identity politics, by which the case was convincingly made that “assimilation” suggested some end-point, towards which one strove, at which point on would be “not too different” from the (obviously) white majority… not so different as to make white people uncomfortable or uneasy. So, we got “celebrate diversity”, even as any number of white (and non-black) minorities in their turn had not been treated badly, discriminated against, socially isolated.

I have wondered how influential American race studies were in the European hands-off policies with their relatively new, large (and different from the traditional) immigrant communities in the 1980-2005, as well (from far away afaict) the innovations to long troubled “guest labor” populations with new, improved, more humane paths to permanent status and citizenship.

I was fascinated by the suggestion that political France was in fact terrified of doing “anything” about the banlieues for fear that there would be one hell of a blowback, even eruption…. seeing only the very likely (imagined but too real) negatives of forcing issues. Apparently the recommendations made by the commission in response to the 2005 riots were never funded. Hard to tell how much that was due to “nationalist” hostility to the spending of tax dollars on “unworthy malcontents” I could not tell, but that seemed — along with 2008 “austerity” measures — seemed to be one interpretation. In America, we have some of the same deadlocks and barriers wrt policing and investigation in inner city crime hot spots … half the community thinks there’s too much heavy-handed policing amounting to armed occupation while the other half complains that murders and other crimes go unsolved, with the police blaming codes of silence and lack of cooperation by involved community members. The post-rioting 2005 interventions have been considerable relative to American standards. After the Rodney King riots, much of south central was forced to live with the mess, with glacial cleanup, rebuilding and reinstitution of services … living without replacement grocery stores, movie theatres, banks, gas stations, etc. It sure looked and felt like deliberate punishment of the community for the violence, much of which was committed by opportunists from outside the neighborhood.

It’s reminiscent of all those presidents who refused to quit Vietnam because they didn’t want to be the one blamed for losing …

FobosDeimos

April 27, 2017 at 11:46

Macron reminds me a lot of Peña Nieto in México. A media-manufactured candidate who looks very tidy and clean on the outside, and is totally empty inside, ready to be filled with watever instructions and orders he gets from his masters. Unfortunately the Front National cannot escape from its built in reactionary core values. Compared with Donald the Clown, Marine Le Pen is a major stateswoman, but her racism is too obvious, even though she has tried hard to soften her father’s outright fascist ideas, his praise of the Vichy regime, etc..She still talks about French Algeria and how De Gaulle betrayed the whites…bla bla. I wouldn’ vote for eiher of these two candidates. By the way…Fillon is and has always been a staunch fan of Margaret Thatcher, so there is nothing to regret about his downfall.

Bill Goldman

April 27, 2017 at 11:44

France had only one flash of escape from the status quo and that was the great Revolution of more than 200 years ago (about the same time that American colonists had theirs).

H.Trickler

April 27, 2017 at 05:47

Yeah, “Democratic politics is not for Boy Scouts”. But I wonder whether the author intends to suggest that the voter’s should accept character traits as have become known of Strauss and Fillon???

And btw: “We may expect France to muddle along and to continue to be subservient to Berlin” lacks proofs.

Zachary Smith

April 26, 2017 at 19:30

“Emmanuel Clinton vs Marine LeTrump”

I get the impression author Escobar believes the French have the same quality of “choice” as did the US last November.

www*thesaker.is/emmanuel-clinton-vs-marine-letrump/

HLT

April 26, 2017 at 17:13

Interesting article! I don’t want you, Gilbert, accuse you of a biase because I do not think it is a biase. It is somewhat the Russian point of view about Western Europe and that makes your article interesting. I do believe that Mr. Fillon somehow fits into the mainstream Russian mind set, a rather conservative with doubts about unlimited immigration but a firm democrat, committed to freedom of speech and a pro-European. One of the big errors in Western Europe is the believe, mainly hammered in by unlimited media-indoctrination, that Russia is anti-EU and would prefer a split and weak EU. There is no indication that Russia wants that, much more to the contrary, I do believe that Russia very much would like to become integrated into Europe. But here is a problem, Medvedev’s suggestion to create a common market from Vladivostok to Lisbon let the alarm bells go off in Washington. So if anyone really has an interest to weaken and parralyse the EU, it is the neo-cons in Washington because according to the Wolfovitz doctrin any potential thread to the global position of the US has to be stifled rigth from the start. But this, as we all witnessed in recent decades, creates much more destruction and havoc than anything else. However, things in Western Europe are different than in Russia. Take for example the Rhine-Ruhr district in the former West Germany. This area had always a huge influx of immigrants, in fact , almost all of the 12 million inhabitants have an immigrant back ground, whether Polish, Italian, Spanish, Turkish or more recent African and Middle Eastern migrants. People take it with pride, it is like New York or London, only much lesser known. It used to be West Germany’s industrial heartland but has been badly effected by the changes of the last 30 years when a lot mines and steel works closed down, just like the rust belt in the US. But amazingly it is on the way up again and one of the reasons for that is: Immigration! I can feel it everywhere when I walk around the streets of Oberhausen or Moenchengladbach, the new arrivals mean new customers, new ideas, new shops, new business for the everyone. That is how London, Singapore or New York got big and wealthy! And that effect is something which, as far as I know, is unknown in Russia yet, at least not to such an extend. The younger generation in the Rhine-Ruhr district dreams of Melenchon’s and Podemos world, not the one of Fillon and neither the one of Macron. The ideas of Mrs. Le Pen are totally incompatible, everybody has some immigrant background somewhere. The basic-income is the buzz-word in the Rhine-Ruhr district. But this openness also offers an opportunity for Russia because the people would really like to have Russia on board, a common market from Vladivostok to Lisbon sounds attractive to them yet they have learned after the iron curtain came down that not everything is compatible, Nizhny Novgorod is not Oberhausen. But Russia is a democracy, it has freedom of speech and I believe there are real opportunities if only the Wolfovitz-supporters would one day retreat from their paranoia. And if they are so worried, why not suggesting a free trade area from Vladivostok to Vladivostok, meaning including North America as well?

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 09:53

What a multicultural idille straight out of George Soros’ cheque book.

backwardsevolution

April 26, 2017 at 15:52

“Macron left the Commission, which was shelved September 2010, to work for Rothschilds & Cie Banque where he became an overnight millionaire while working the Nestle acquisition of Pfizer’s nutritional outlet, which closed in 2012. Nestle is a client of Rothschilds. Macron had no experience in acquisitions and mergers whatsoever…

What does one do when one makes millions overnight? Apparently one quits.

He then left Rothschilds to work for Hollande as deputy secretary general of Elysee, and eventually Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Data in 2014 where he served 18 months before running for Presidency. I’d call that a pretty fast paced runup with little to no political experience or business savvy.

Sounding phishy? Because it is.

All of these positions seem a bit odd for a very junior man with no experience in any of these respective employment quarters. And so, it would appear that Rothschilds saw in Macron what they saw in Obama before he too suddenly became a ‘millionaire’.

Leaving a company, Rothschilds, where he was making millions, to suddenly becoming a deputy government official making less than $70,000 per year and rising to a Ministerial position in less than 2 years, is more than a bit odd.

Ministers in France are typically appointed after a tedious reign of past accomplishments and decades of public service. Macron was appointed at the ripe age of 36 with barely a smidge of experience. But it gets a bit more murky:”

One must admit that Rothschilds and George Soros understand human nature, mostly its failings and corruptability, very well.

backwardsevolution

April 27, 2017 at 19:32

Kiza – yes, they understand that if everything is done slowly, values are slowly whittled away, then by the time people notice that they’ve lost their culture, they won’t be able to do anything about it. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 22:24

They are good at cooking us frogs slowly, aren’t they?

backwardsevolution

April 26, 2017 at 15:50

“So Macron turned to three young Frenchmen who got their start in politics as volunteers for Obama’s 2008 campaign, and who now run a political consulting and technology firm in Paris. Guillaume Liegey, Arthur Muller, and Vincent Pons met in Boston—Liegey and Muller studied at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, while Pons was a graduate student at MIT—and, after Obama’s victory, decided to explore which Obama-style tactics they’d be able to bring to France.”

Macron came out of university with a degree in philosophy and civil service. He worked for government for four years, then all of a sudden buys out his government contract (which cost him $50,000 Euros to get out of) in order to work for the Rothschild’s bank (with absolutely no business experience). He makes millions working there, but miraculously, after four years at the bank, decides to go back to his $70,000.00/year government job. He becomes an adviser to Hollande.

He quits Hollande’s party and becomes an independent. He announces his candidacy in August of 2016. In November of 2016 he comes out with a book (sound familiar?). He hires three French volunteers to the Obama campaign, who then somehow are able to mount an army of volunteers who go door-to-door for him. His campaign is highly organized. Gee, I wonder if Soros has a hand in this too!

The people are France are being sucked in again. Macron believes in open borders, open immigration (good for business, he says), the European Union, globalization, more of the same.

Now, why did the Rothschild’s set him up in banking, earning millions, when he had absolutely no experience? Were they grooming him?

David Smith

April 26, 2017 at 16:34

100% correct, thankyou backwardsevolution.

Ki

April 27, 2017 at 09:41

Thanks for the nice and brief reality check. Your comment against the tons from the Main Sewer Media.

PS I am Kiza but somehow my tag lost two letters.

Dr. Ibrahim Soudy

April 26, 2017 at 14:50

The worst thing that happened to Europe is another place called “America”!! After colonizing almost the whole globe and feeling that they owned the world, Europe destroyed itself not once but twice. In both times, America came in to save Europe from Germany. Europeans now are like spoiled kids who feel that MOTHER America will always be there to save them and that is a formula of self-destruction. The original Europeans (the white) are declining in number but they need labor to fill the widening gap. I predict that Europe will look very much Middle Eastern / African / South Asian within 100 years or so. By the end of this century, Europe will look like original Europe only in books and on the walls of museums…….

Italy (the home of the Roman Empire) is now best known for Cuisine!! Spain (home of the Spanish Empire) is now best known for running with bulls and throwing tomatoes at each other!! Britain (home of the British Empire) cannot even stay one unit within the main island!! France tried hard to have an empire but all it was able to achieve was to make America the new seat of the old British Empire!! Ironically, the real powerhouse of Europe now is the same country that was defeated TWICE before in the two world wars.

Britain, France, Spain, and Italy are now fourth grade countries that do not matter much on the world stage except as vassals for MOTHER America. The future is for China and India (who are also going to own America and Canada).

French presidents now act as if they are extension of the old French monarchy…..palace intrigue and beautiful women!! Let the champagne flow…………. It is now called “institutional corruption”………..

Bill Bodden

April 26, 2017 at 15:56

In both times, America came in to save Europe from Germany.

Woodrow Wilson pushed America into World War One to protect loans Wall Street made to the Brits. If Colonel House or some other emissary for Wilson hadn’t given the Brits an assurance America would join them the Brits might have gone along with the truce talks going the rounds in the summer of 1917. Consequently from that time to Armistice Day millions more people died in vain in the war to end all wars. The post-war talks in Versailles in 1919 set the stage for World War Two that set another stage for the continued expansion of the American empire.

Peter Smith

April 26, 2017 at 20:44

Woodrow Wilson was pushed into WWI by the Zionists. Remember the Balfour Declaration?

Bill Bodden

April 26, 2017 at 22:14

I am interested in your sources for charging the Zionists with pushing Woodrow Wilson to get involved in the First World War. None of the sources I have read so far have referred to the Zionists in this matter. There could have been Zionists among the Wall Street bankers, but I haven’t read of their involvement.

B.B., Wilson was “a poodle on a string” led by The Jekyll Island Clique who were fronts for Rothschild/Bank of England who wanted 1) Central Powers defeated so Syria could be occupied and severed w/ Palestine given to zionists, 2) Federal Reserve Act passed so Rothschild agents control US Gov’t so it could never oppose zionists (and rig 1929 Crash and Great Depression).

Bill Bodden

April 27, 2017 at 12:40

David: Thank you for this information. I’ll check it out. First look appears interesting.

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 09:38

Where you are totally wrong is that the “Europeans need third world people for labor to fill the widening gap”, as you write. No they do not. Mostly Jewish owned businesses and multi-national corporations do, but not the ordinary white people of Europe. Open borders is the catch-cry of George Soros & Co, lots of money working on depopulating the area around Israel of pesky Muslims and loading them up into the so called Multicultural Europe. Macron is a Rothschild candidate, very well resourced but very anti-European (yes, pro-EU but anti-Europe).

Most of your other points, for example how US always comes to save Europe is rubbish easily sold to US people because it makes them indispensable and exceptional.

I usually like your comments, but this one is heavily ideologically (religiously) biased and, in my view, worthless.

Dr. Ibrahim Soudy

April 27, 2017 at 11:51

all I will say is that you totally misunderstood my comment……………

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 22:22

Sorry if I did, but I read it again and did not find another explanation.

As I wrote, I usually like your comments because they are so reasonable.

Lolita

April 26, 2017 at 14:24

Macreau = Trudon

Danielle

April 26, 2017 at 13:14

I’m French and always read the site consortiumnews with great interest. The only one thing that come to my mind concerning the French élections is: “It is a shame and a disaster!!!”

James Whitney

April 26, 2017 at 13:42

I’m French too, and agree that disasterous things are happening. Please say more about what you think.

Joe Tedesky

April 26, 2017 at 22:34

Danielle and James I feel for you, and feel the same as you do. This leadership problem isn’t just French nor American, no it is corporate controlled Western Bankers with their wars and trade agreements who are most bringing our people’s down. The EU could work, the U.S. Government could be great if the Commons were the priority, and not run with the superior ideology for captured dominance of world hegemony instead. While the world should be uniting instead sanctions are the order of the day. Environmental issues are condensed down into corporate logo sponsorship. Freedom and liberty are fought by covertly arming an enemy to keep war continual. Independence and civil liberties are traded in for better national security. A responsible Press is kidnapped to be replaced by infotainment. How much further must the pendulum swing before it returns to center?

James Whitney

April 27, 2017 at 09:07

Well spoken Joe Tedesky.

Bill Bodden

April 26, 2017 at 12:23

Democratic politics is not for Boy Scouts. It has always and will always have rough edges – and candidates will not be perfect men and women. The question, which should count above all others, is whether the candidate has the programs that will change people’s lives for the better and the force of will and political skills to realize them.

If the moral and ethical standards of the voters were higher we might see some improvement in government. Prior to November 8th there was a sizable consensus that Clinton and Trump were the two worst possible candidates for president. Nevertheless, they received the vast majority of votes for a variety of reasons, but what the voters had in common was a statement that Clinton or Trump was good enough for them.

In fairness to the American people who have mostly failed in their duties as citizens they have been abused from childhood by constant streams of lies from the media and other sources – including schools. Most of us were probably suckers for the lies we were told in our younger days. Some of us eventually recognized we were lied to and were still being lied to. Others, probably a majority, never caught on and may be content to be lied to with lies they want to hear or read.

Exiled off mainstreet

April 26, 2017 at 12:02

Macron is a mere empty suit, a lackey of the yankee controlled neoliberal establishment. Unless a miracle occurs, France will reject Le Pen based on her father’s fascist baggage and the power of the yankee controlled international deep state propaganda superstructure. She appears to best represent the real interests of the French people, and the accusation she is extreme right is a canard; her positions on issues other than immigration are well to the left, and, in light of the ongoing threat of alien immigration to an area with a long cultural and ethnic tradition, her immigration views are reasonable.

backwardsevolution

April 26, 2017 at 15:32

Exiled – I agree. Le Pen is not “far right”. She is not against Islam, just against the Islamification of France. She wants French “culture”, which has been fought for for hundreds of years, to remain strong and intact. As someone else said, she is not far right, just “right” on immigration. How anyone can say she is wrong about wanting to protect a wonderful culture is beyond me.

Doing anything other than what Le Pen is advocating is complete insanity, IMO.

SteveK9

April 27, 2017 at 19:04

Macron made a comment ‘There is no such thing as French culture’ … how sad is that?

Joe Tedesky

April 26, 2017 at 22:14

Le Pen you say best represents the people, as maybe Donald Trump best represented the American people. If this people barometer is to be our guide to what leader would best represent the people, would it be fair to say that we should see how this populace movement is informed? What gauge could we put to being best informed when the ‘fake news’ era is in full swing? My point being is that with the MSM Corporate Owned hacks informing our vast population who’s to say what the people think, and how correct the people have it? Seriously what were the choices for the U.S. Voter to have to have had to pick between Hillary or Trump? Trump held promise for some, for awhile, until Trump did his 59 missile strike which will be remembered as his Night of the Long Knives. I sure hope the French people get a honest leader, but I’ll offer the French people my support, and condolences all at the same time, just to cover my bases. Viva la France!

Le Pen is her own person, Trump is not.
Le pen is neither a bigot, nor a buffoon.
Marine will stick to her word, and lead France out of the EU.
The French nation must rally behind her … and I think they will.

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 09:01

I strongly believe that what you wrote about Le Pen is true, based on my long term observation of France since I started learning French as a teenager.

I understand that most US people (and Joe) are disillusioned by the Trump’s flip, but Le Pen is more like Nigel Farage than like Trump.

Joe Tedesky

April 27, 2017 at 09:27

I personally don’t have a problem with LePen. What I’m questioning is the people’s knowledge acquired through the media, and that the people can make a good choice. Add to that, just like in the U.S. where the choices were between a Hillary and Donald, and where does that leave a society. Also although the world isn’t getting any larger, I do feel nations need some nationalism to combat the banker globalist who now run the show.

One of the issues Marie LePen is making a case for is Dual Citizenship serving in public office. I wish before 911 we here in the States had dumped all of the Dual Citizenshippers.

I just question where the debates are centered during these elections, and to what the people know. I also don’t blame the people, instead I blame a rigged media.

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 10:11

Good one Joe, thanks for mentioning that one about the dual citizens and public office. Common-sensical but absent in the West: which of his/her countries is a dual citizen going to serve? It is like an officially authorised spy and saboteur.

Joe Tedesky

April 27, 2017 at 16:00

Remember when George W Bush said, ‘your either with us or against us’, well did that mean the Dual Citizen could say, ‘well sore of’?

I will say this about my immigrant grandparents is that when they came to America, they jumped in with both feet. Yes they had sympathy for their Italy under the Mussolini years, but they were always true blue to this country’s ideals. In other words, my ancestors weren’t dual about anything they were proud to become U.S. Citizens and with that our family took root. Now in our fourth generation my grandchildren hardly know what nationality to call themselves other than American. So for good or bad, nationalism in it’s own way maybe good, too much not so good, but just enough is never a bad thing. This globalist idea of a New World Order is for the birds, and Dual Citizenship unchecked is a dangerous thing…think 911.

James Whitney

April 27, 2017 at 12:57

Hello Joe Tedesky,

I am a dual citizen U.S. and France, and have had several colleagues the same, originally Algerian or Mexican or Chinese, in France working in computed aided design. My son, also a dual citizen, has many schoolmates and later colleagues the same who are fine citizens and good friends. Right now there are many refugees in France who live in dreadful unsanitary camps, victims the wars in the Middle East in which recent French governments have enthusiastically participated.

OK, so Le Pen was not directly involved in this (although she cheered for these wars) as was Macron. But she is more than a nationalist, she is a big racist who wants to exclude “foreigners” from basic social services altough as salaried workers they contribute to pay for them. And she wants to expel as many as possible. Shame on Le Pen!

P.S. What you write about Korea is interesting.

Joe Tedesky

April 27, 2017 at 16:12

James good you brought up this dual citizenship topic, because I don’t have a problem with the concept of dual citizenship, but what I do have a problem with is when dual citizens who work for the government show more concern for their native land than they do for their new homeland.

Why, beat around the bush, the real dual citizen who aggravates me to no end are the Zionist who in my eyes are only using the U.S. and it’s Allies to further their illegal claim to Palestine and now have us all fighting their quest to cause chaos in all parts of the Middle East to further their dream of a Greater Israel. George Washington warned America about these foreign entanglements in his 1796 Farewell Address, and we Americans should listen to him.

I hope I didn’t offend you, because that would be unfortunate. I’m guesting your son and you have all humanity in mind when making crucial decisions, and with that how could a person dual or otherwise be wrong?

Joe Tedesky

April 27, 2017 at 19:01

James I should also include in my anti-list those who sell their loyalties.

Many things in this article are correct, but not that “In 2016, the presidential candidate best prepared by experience and knowledge to lead France was Francois Fillon. He offered both domestic and foreign policies that would mark a significant departure from the wishy-washy and ineffectual programs of Hollande and of Sarkozy before him.”

Fillon was Sarkozy’s prime minister, and responsible for the policies that destroyed Sarkozy’s campaign in 2012, very regresive policies. In the recent campaign he called for severe austerity, huge cutbacks in social services for people in need. It is true that Fillon takes a more moderate view toward Russia, very positive compared with other candidates.

Of course, austerity got more severe under Hollande, during whose term Macron was a key advisor then finance minister. It is the policies of Sarkozy and Hollande that gave Le Pen a big boost in the regions of France hit
hardest by deindustralization and big increases in unemployment. Macron was a major player in all of this.

Personally, as a French citizen I voted for Mélenchon whose program – despite a few elements not really clear – responds ot the needs of the people pretty well. I hope his movement France Insoumise does well in the legislative elections in June.

Joe Tedesky

April 26, 2017 at 22:03

From the very little I know, but have read about, I think I would prefer Mélenchon. I’m at a point where in American and European, plus Australia and Canada and maybe New Zealand politics I believe it doesn’t matter any more because of the corporate control which dictates to each nation’s leader on what to do next.

The election we should be watching even more so is going on in S Korea where a Moon Jae-in win could mean a world of difference on the peninsula, and be detrimental to the recently installed THAAD missiles being allowed to stay there. This has to be most intimidating to Ratheon and the U.S. Corporate bankers, and arms manufacturers, and in my mind this is serious business time in South and North Korea.

I’ve grown so cynical I just prepare myself to see all Western politicians climb down from their election campaign rhetoric and watch them morph into the system and just except it as the way it goes, begrudgingly though. The Western System took this turn right after WWII and hasn’t turned back yet. What is most troubling is, no real sincere efforts are made to quiet down the saber rattling, and this only fuels on the arms race….always an arms race.

Until we regulate all corporate ownership and tame it to work for the commons instead of against the common good we will only wait for a bigger catastrophe to come whether it be environmental, financial, or nuclear. Politics is dead!

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 09:16

It is, what we as kids used to call a public secret, that the North Korea crisis is a manufactured crisis. The little dictator has not done anything worse than he has been doing before, but all of a sudden there is a US outrage at something. If they could blame NK for gassing or nuking some (blond) children they would have. In reality, it is nothing to do with NK and all to do with an aggressive strategic US move against China and Russia, to place missile defence on their Eastern doorstep.

Therefore, THAAD against North Korea is the same as the two ABMD sites against Iran in Poland and Romania. THAAD in South Korea rounds up the encirclement of the Eurasian continent. The message from the Anglo-Zionist Empire is: you can build your New Silk Road, but we can always nuke it and you, and you can’t do much about it.

Joe Tedesky

April 27, 2017 at 15:09

Kiza at least you see things for what they are. I think the U.S. freak out is due to the changing political landscape which is occurring in the Asian Pacific, and is problematic to the U.S. NWO, as there in lies the root of the manufactured crisis over Kim Jung un. Moon Jae-in if elected will be worth watching too see if he is able to change the Korean paradigm….God knows the Korean could use a change.

Mark Thomason

April 26, 2017 at 11:17

I agree that the political forces aligning around Macron are the status quo. He is an investment banker, from the economic team of the current failed government, who talks of France becoming more like Germany and the US and by that means the worst of those two countries for the employees/voters.

However, the man brought down by scandal was not proposing to change any of that. He was just more of the same, and personally corrupt to boot.

The only one who offered change was defeated in the first round, a replay of rejecting Bernie to put up status quo against Trump thinking he can’t possibly win and so they get it all yet again.

The only candidate with the balls to hold fast in the face of serious threats, and media attacks … is still in the race.
If the French do not rally behind Marine Le Pen, France is finished as a French nation.
Spare the b.s. about racism, fascism blah, blah, etc., etc.
I have listened to her speeches, and multiple interviews, out of curiousity.
IMO, she is a true Patriot.
France is lucky to have produced her, now it is time for the French to pull the tape worm out of their butts and rally behind Bleu Marine.

Kiza

April 27, 2017 at 08:53

I always believed that the French people of all would rebbel against the Main Sewer Media that dump their content on all Western countries. In other words, exactly because Macaron [sic] has been endorsed by TPTB and their MSM that the French would vote against this French Trump (a liar only much younger and cuter). I may live to lose my last illusions about the French resistance by having to endorse the British view of it from the “Alo, alo” comedy series. In fact the “Alo, also” comedy is the best description of the EU.

As to Macron marrying his mother by age, this is purely this guys problem and none of our business.

SteveK9
No way! IMO Le Pen would never cave in like Trump. What a female-dog, in the vernacular sense … and if so, what do the French have to lose anyway.
Macron is the elite’s man, and Le Pen is a life long champion for a sovereign French nation.
So even if Le Pen would female-dog-up like Trump, Macron is bought … this is known.
For the French, Le Pen is the obvious choice in this election.
Unless they like having their elected officials take orders from outside.

Jessejean

April 26, 2017 at 11:15

Seems to me that all of the analyses of elections in western democracies are saying the same thing: the good guy has been smeared, the right wing is wrong and strong, Russia, and softly, the banks. Greece, Brexit, T-rump, now France and maybe another. Do we on the Left have a theory about how this “all falls there so perfectly, it all looks so well planned” to quote Dylan? I’m perfectly happy to entertain conspiracy theories when the evidence is there, which it isn’t for the Russiagate stuff, but what about us? The CIA? The lying Clapper? Is this actually so well planned?

BannanaBoat

April 26, 2017 at 14:05

Perhaps hundreds of institutes proposing plans yet citizens contemplate if there are a great number of plans (conspiracies). General Wesley Clarke, years ago found evidence and publicly declared that the pentagon would attack Iraq, Libya, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somailia, and Lebanon.

France’s claims of a “Clandestine Syrian chemical weapons programme” mainly relies on “allegations” of chemical use laundered by Bellingcat.

Back in 2003, it was grandiose but evidence free WMD claims and waving little vials at the United Nations.

Now in 2017, it is the climax of a slow motion accretion of ambiguous WMD allegations, a false flag version of a “death by a thousand cuts”, and waving a French “National Assessment” at Les Nations Unies.

Defying science and logic, the French report relies on Dan Kaszeta’s debunked claims about hexamine.

The French report also refers repeatedly to “air strikes” and “air capacities”. The French even make the extraordinary claim that ” Modelling, on the basis of the crater’s characteristics, confirmed with a very high level of confidence that it was dropped from the air.” No evidence or data are presented to substantiate this claim.

Brian Whitaker of the UK Guardian is Tweeting like a madman.

Marko

April 26, 2017 at 12:47

Al Nusra has likely been using sarin from Assad’s stockpile since day one. Khan al-Assal , Gouta , Khan Sheikhun , and now Saraqib are all said to resemble one another. They’re all coming from the same barrels , the bulk of which are probably in Gazientep , under the watchful eye of Erdogan since Dec. 2012 :

” Roughly four months before the split between the Nusra Front and ISIS, in December 2012, dozens of Syrian jihadi fighters climbed a hill toward Regiment 111 — a large army base near the town of Darat Izza, in northern Syria……….The base was a goldmine: home to guns, artillery, ammunition, and vehicles. And deep inside Regiment 111’s bunkers lay something even more valuable — a cache of chemical weapons……

…….Within a day, the combined jihadi forces had broken through the lines of the Syrian Army. Shortly after, Regiment 111 was fully under jihadi control. They found large stocks of weapons, ammunition and, to their surprise, chemical agents. They were, according to Abu Ahmad, mainly barrels filled with chlorine, sarin, and mustard gas.

What followed was the distribution of the war spoils. Everybody took some ammunition and weapons. But only the Nusra Front seized the chemical weapons. Abu Ahmad watched as the al Qaeda affiliate called in 10 large cargo trucks, loaded 15 containers with chlorine and sarin gas, and drove them away to an unknown destination. He did not see what happened to the mustard gas.

Three months later, both the Syrian government and rebel groups reported an attack in Khan al-Assal, near Aleppo……
………………….

Khan al-Assal was on March 19 , 2013. Saraqib was on April 29 , 2013. Then in early May , Carla Del Ponte , in an unguarded moment , let slip the truth :

“According to the testimonies we have gathered, the rebels have used chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas,” del Ponte, a former war crimes prosecutor, said in an interview with Swiss radio late on Sunday.

“We still have to deepen our investigation, verify and confirm (the findings) through new witness testimony, but according to what we have established so far, it is at the moment opponents of the regime who are using sarin gas,” she added. ”

She was then instructed to zip it , because this was a man’s job after all , and dutifully , she did just that. And it’s been Assad Assad Assad ever since.

It’s never been a question about the source of the sarin , its only about who’s using it. Give me enough money and I could probably get you a barrel of Assad’s sarin , and I’m absolutely positive I could get you a Volcano , grad , or any other launcher , rocket , or “gas grenade” being used across the middle east.

The other side played the Assad supporters for suckers , drawing them in to accepting that only “kitchen sarin” could be linked to the rebels , and not much of it at that , because they don’t have the know-how and facilities , and how the rebels don’t use Volcano launchers and blah blah blah.

What a travesty. If there’s someone holding inside dope out there in the IC who has an ounce of integrity and a half-ounce of balls , now would be a good time to show it.